


Chin Up Slim

by nomadicwolf



Category: X-Men (Original Timeline Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:34:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24405874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nomadicwolf/pseuds/nomadicwolf
Summary: Logan gets roped into a mission with Scott and starts to wonder if the other man is quite as terrible as he once thought.  The two decide to have a drink and Logan gets increasingly distracted by Scott... more specifically his lips.
Relationships: Logan (X-Men)/Scott Summers
Comments: 2
Kudos: 74
Collections: Marvel Reverse Big Bang 2019





	Chin Up Slim

**Author's Note:**

  * For [talkativefangirl13](https://archiveofourown.org/users/talkativefangirl13/gifts).



> Based on fabulous Art by Talkativefangirl13!

  
“Shit!” Logan hissed under his breath as he dodged Toad’s mucus. This mission was turning out to be a massive pain in the ass. Not only did he get stuck with Cyclops, but he was getting mucus spit at him from another mutant. This was turning out to be a far cry from the day he was expecting.

The morning had been relatively uneventful. Logan was hoping to spend most of the day relaxing before checking in on Rogue and maybe filling in for a class or two. He had gotten in late the night before and didn’t have a chance to check in with any of the other mutants. He’d just stumbled into the room that was set aside for him and passed out. He wasn’t sure which of the others were even at the manor or out on any various missions.

Logan walked down the halls of the mansion, making his way towards the Professor’s office. He wanted to make an appearance and formally tell him that he was there, even though he was sure the Professor was aware that he was there the moment he was on the grounds. Still, the last thing he needed as a snarky remark about how he crashed there without saying hello.

When he entered the office, he was surprised to see Scott standing over the Professor’s desk. The Professor was nowhere in sight. That wasn’t what he was expecting.

Scott looked up and frowned. “Logan. I wasn’t expecting you.” He cocked his head towards the large clock on the desk. “Up before noon. It must be important.”

Logan rolled his eyes. “I was just coming to let Xavier know that I got in last night. You know where he is?”

“He’s speaking at a conference on Mutant Rights. He should be back some time tomorrow,” Scott said, looking back down at the papers on the desk. “If you’re just passing through, I’ll tell him you stopped by when he gets back.”

Logan frowned. “I was actually hoping to speak with him.” He had half a mind to tell Scott to screw off, but he was planning on staying there for a little while. He didn’t need to get into a fight with him on day one. There was plenty of time for that later. “Any of the others around?”

“They’re on a mission. I’m holding down the fort for the time being,” Scott said, his tone sounded bored. As if he was too busy with everything else. If no one else was around then that meant that Logan was the first adult that Scott had around, and yet he was acting like he’d rather be anywhere else.

“What’d you do to get stuck on babysitting duty?” Logan asked smugly as he leaned up against the door frame.

Scott let out an annoyed huff. “Nothing. I’ve still got a minor injury from our last assignment so I decided to sit this one out. Besides, someone needs to make sure that these kids don’t burn the place down.”

“Right,” Logan said, barely interested anymore. “So you’ve got no one teaching the brats?”

Scott looked at him and he could tell that he was being given a look of exasperation, even if he couldn’t see Scott’s eyes. “The older students are helping out and teaching some of the more remedial classes for extra credit.”

“I guess you don’t need me, then,” Logan said and turned to walk out the door.

“Are you offering?” Scott asked, and sounded genuinely surprised.

“Not exactly, but if you need a hand, I can talk my way through a few lectures,” Logan said nonchalantly.

Scott laughed bitterly to himself. “I’ll keep that in mind. Just try not to cause too much trouble while you’re here. This is a school, the kids need some routine.”

“Half the teachers disappear every other week to fight bad guys,” Logan said, shaking his head. “Not much routine there.”

Scott opened his mouth to argue when something else caught his attention. Scott was staring at the television with that same exasperated look on his face.Toad was breaking into some government facility. This was typically an X-Men problem, but right now it seemed to be a Scott and Logan problem since everyone else was indisposed.

“Need help?” Logan asked smugly.

Scott looked up at the ceiling for a moment before nodding. “I’ll ask Pitor and Bobby to keep an eye on things here. This shouldn’t take us too long.”

“Agreed,” Logan said, surprised to hear the words actually leaving his mouth. They rarely saw eye to eye on anything. There was no plausible explanation for this showdown with Toad to take long between the two of them.

Scott didn’t pay him any attention as he began texting someone on his phone. It was likely Pitor or Bobby… or both. “Let’s go.”

It didn’t take them too long to get to the government building. With the ridiculous horsepower on these cars they were able to get there in record time, thankfully. The car ride had been incredibly awkward. The two of them just sat there in complete silence, not saying a word to each other.

They got out of the car and entered into the building from the back, doing their best to stay undetected. Logan rarely understood all the secrecy. Mutants weren’t a secret, they were cleaning up another’s mutant’s mess and would likely get next to no credit for it. There definitely wouldn’t be any thanks for it, one of the many perks of this gig.

Scott led the way, heading down the hall and leading him to a stairwell. Scott must have had some clue what Toad was looking for if he was so certain that he wasn’t on this floor. Logan didn’t bother asking about it, he was sure it was something well above his paygrade that he wouldn’t be particularly invested in anyway.

As Logan was rounding the corner, Scott pushed him out of the way. Logan was about to argue with him when he realized it was because of Toad. The asshole must have tried to get him with his venom or paralytic mucus. Just another day at the office.

Scott was busy trying to stop any mucus being shot his way with his red laser eye things. The last thing they needed was for Scott’s visor to get knocked off and leave him out of commission. That would leave Logan alone with the only mutant more irritating than Scott.

Thinking fast, Logan watched carefully for when Toad’s attention was solely on Scott and grabbed one of the printers on the desk of the now mucus covered office, and threw it full force at Toad, knocking him in the head and rendering him unconscious. 

“What now? Do we take him to the manor or hand him over to the authorities?” Logan asked as he stood over the now unconscious mutant.

“The authorities can have him. I doubt he’ll be of much use to us. Magneto doesn’t usually let the lower level members of the Brotherhood in on his plans. He knows the Professor would get the information out of them in situations like this,” Scott said uninterestedly as he walked over to a file cabinet in the middle of the room. He tried to open it, with no luck. It was locked, unsurprisingly.

Scott hummed and stepped back as he lowered the setting on the side of his visor and shot at it. It was smart, Logan had to admit. If he didn’t know any better, the blast looked as though it could have been caused by Toad’s acidic venom rather than Cyclops. At least Scott was smarter than he looked. 

He opened the cabinet and began looking through files, tossing the incorrect one all over the floor casually. Clearly, he was after something specific. Maybe the X-Men had been waiting for a way to access the building and Toad created an opportunity. That didn’t make too much sense, though; the Professor could gain access to almost anything using Cerebro or even throwing his money around. Not that it was something that the Professor would do often, but it was an option nonetheless and far more certain than waiting for the brotherhood to make a move.

After a few moments, Scott turned around to look at him. “All right, let’s go. The authorities will be storming this place any minute now.”

“You find what you were looking for?” Logan asked, his eyes fixed on the filing cabinet.

Scott nodded. “Yes, which luckily means that _he_ didn’t.” Scott looked down at Toad, shaking his head.

“Anything important?” Logan asked.

Scott shrugged. “Not yet, it’s not. It’s a proposal for some potential legislation. It’s in its early stages and likely won’t see the light of day. The last thing anyone needs is for Magneto to draw any media attention to this.”

“I guess it’s not a mutant friendly proposal,” Logan said, frowning. There would only be one reason that Erik would be after it, and it wouldn’t be a positive one. This was probably just the latest attempt to put some restriction or regulations on mutants. 

“To be determined,” Scott said. “Right now it’s just dancing the line. It could turn into something good, but it’s too vague to determine. Erik would be able to spin this into a definite negative if he got his hands on it though. It’s a situation that we’ve been monitoring closely.”

They heard creaking from a few floors down. The authorities were probably already inside.

“Come on,” Scott said, motioning his head towards the door. “We’ve got to go.”

Logan didn’t push it, and nodded as he walked out the door and into the hall. He started to make his way towards the staircase they used to come up, when Scott grabbed his arm.

“No, this way,” he motioned in the opposite direction. “There’s a service elevator. The cops are going to be heading up using the stairs. This way we can get out undetected.”

Logan gave him an odd look. “What difference does it make? We took care of the problem for them.”

Scott gave him the same look from earlier in the day. “If we’re linked to this, then all the headlines will read is that Mutants attacked the government building. If it’s just one mutant then it will read the _Toad_ attacked a government building. Less ammunition.”

“And more of a chance that the legislation will take a positive turn,” Logan added as he began walking in the direction that Scott suggested.

“Maybe,” Scott said, sounding unconvinced. “At the very least, we can hope this indiscretion won’t be used as ammunition against the Mutant-kind as a whole.”

Logan didn’t say anything to that. He wasn’t convinced that this still wouldn’t be strewed as a mutant problem opposed to a Toad or brotherhood problem. He didn’t voice this, though. The sooner they got out of there the sooner he could go back to ignoring Scott and enjoying his day. It didn’t matter anyway, everyone already knew that this was a mutant attack. Even if it was just Toad, it was public. Staying there and arguing with Scott wouldn’t change any of that.

They got in the service elevator and rode down to the bottom floor. It was an incredibly awkward and silent three minutes. At least they weren’t talking anymore. There was only so much of Scott he could take.

When they got to the ground floor, Logan was pleased to see that it actually let them out outside of the back of the building. That was convenient. “Why didn’t we use this when we went inside?” He growled as he walked out of the elevator.

Scott sighed. “If he was on his way out, we’d be able to stop him before he made it out of the building.”

“Unless he used the service elevator,” Logan said with a sarcastic smile.

Scott shook his head. “It’s not on any of the official blueprints. He likely didn’t know that it existed.”  
“But you did?” Logan questioned him.

“The Professor has resources that aren’t always available to the public,” Scott said shortly.

Logan rolled his eyes. “For someone who wants everyone to be trusting of ‘Mutant kind’ the Professor sure has a lot of access to discrete information.”

“That’s a result of money, not mutation,” Scott said, a hint of amusement in his voice. Had Scott just made a joke? That was a new one for the books.

The drive back to the manor wasn’t terrible. They didn’t go quite as fast because they weren’t trying to stop a crime this time around. Still, Scott probably should have had more urgency surrounding the unsupervised children at the place. If the parents had gotten wind of that… the consequences would have been interesting. Still, most of the parents hadn’t figured out that it was a school for mutants yet, so there really wasn’t much fear of them figuring out that they were unsupervised.

After a little while they arrived back at the school. Logan looked to Scott as he was parking his car in the garage. “I could use a drink right about now.”

“It’s a school, Logan,” Scott said unamused. “We don’t have alcohol on the premises.”

Logan gave him a look. “There are plenty of adults who live here too. Besides, I’m sure the older kids have their ways. They’re still kids. Just because they have the Mutant X Gene, doesn’t mean they’re more well behaved than the average teenager.”

Scott didn’t respond right away. He just turned off the car and unhooked his seatbelt. “That doesn’t mean that we encourage it. Besides, when the director of the school can read minds, kids tend to proceed with caution.”

“Really? Is that what you did when you were a student here?” Logan asked rhetorically. He wasn’t even sure why he was pushing the issue. It wasn’t like he was looking forward to continuing this pointless conversation with Scott.

Scott froze for a moment before responding. “No. Not always.”

Logan stared at him. He wasn’t even terribly surprised by the answer, but surprised that Scott had responded at all. He was just meant to be a retort so that they could go their separate ways and forget the conversation even happened. Maybe he wouldn’t get so lucky this time around.

“Does that mean, you do want to have a drink, or…” his voice trailed off. He wasn’t going to beg Summers to go have a drink. He was sure he could find something on his own, probably from one of the vacant rooms considering all the other of age mutants were off base. Storm typically had an interesting selection in her room.

Scott paused again. Logan could practically see the wheels in his head turning at the suggestion. He probably didn’t _want_ to have a drink… not with Logan, but he didn’t have any other options for blowing off steam. The only people in the house were kids. He couldn’t exactly cut loose and relax with his students. Scott was the kind who liked to make sure that the roles and boundaries were clear. If it was Logan, he probably wouldn’t mind much. He had a pretty close relationship with some of the kids as it was. 

“Maybe just one,” Scott said after a moment. “It’s been a while, and today was… not what I was expecting.”

“I can definitely drink to that. I was looking forward to a day of doing next to nothing and recuperating from the cross country drive,” Logan said as he closed the car door.

Scott nodded it seemed to be more to himself than to Logan, like he was convincing himself that this wouldn’t be a nightmare. If anyone should be having second thoughts it should be Logan. He was only half certain that Scott wouldn’t find a way to use this against him to get him on the Professor’s (and Jean’s) bad side. 

“I’ve got some stuff in my room. I’m just going to check up with Bobby to make sure that everything’s running smoothly and then I guess I’ll meet you there?” Scott asked awkwardly.

“You want me to meet you in your room?” Logan asked, almost certain that Scott did not actually want that. The last time that Logan accidentally wandered in there he almost got a laser to the head.

Scott made a face. “Good point. Meet me in the teacher’s courtyard.”

Logan stared at him, not sure whether or not this drink was really a good idea. “And which one of the many courtyards is that?”

“It’s off from the main hall. It’s got facial recognition on the door so students can’t wander in,” Scott explained.

Logan nodded. This drink was really beginning to feel like a lot more trouble than it was worth. “Right. That one. I’ll meet you down there.”

He didn’t wait for a response this time and started walking towards the exit of the garage that led to the inside of the manor. He didn’t need that conversation to last much longer than it already had.

Logan walked through the school, sneaking a few glances inside the classrooms. He was hoping to catch a glimpse of some of the older students. It had been a while since he was there and, even though he’d never admit it, he’d missed those brats and was hoping to catch up. That was until Toad messed up his plans for having a laid back day.

Eventually he made his way to the courtyard. He paused, contemplating whether or not he should actually go in there. Scott wasn’t exactly his best friend, and this drink was going to be awkward no matter how it went. Still, it couldn’t exactly _hurt_ their relationship either. In reality, the only place to go was up. Maybe if this went well they could actually be civil… not that Logan necessarily wanted that, but he could accept that it was time to move past the rivalry that they shared. It was definitely starting to get old, and Logan wasn’t above burying the hatchet. Scott had his moments after all.

Logan held the door knob and paused. A light shined over him before the door unlocked itself. That must have been the facial recognition that Scott had mentioned. Logan took one last pause to reconsider before entering the courtyard against his better judgement.

Scott was already there, sitting on one of the benches, a glass of scotch in his hand. He looked over his shoulder to look at Logan. He gave him a forced smile. “I thought you changed your mind.”

Logan shrugged. “Guess it just goes to show how badly I need that drink.”

Scott cocked his head to the side. Clearly he wasn’t expecting that answer, not that he shouldn’t have expected that answer. They weren’t exactly friends.

“So what are we drinking?” Logan asked, trying to change the subject.

“It’s a scotch,” Scott said shortly as he handed Logan a glass. “Honestly, all I know is that it’s scotch. I couldn’t tell you if the brand was any good. I don’t drink too much… you know… just in case.” He motioned to his visor.

Logan hadn’t considered that before. It must have been difficult having a weapon you could hardly control attached to your head. “Do you take that off? Ever?”

Scott paused, looking at him. He was clearly trying to think of the appropriate way to respond to that question. “It’s not really safe for me to take it off.”

“No, I just meant like before bed or in the shower…” Logan let his voice trail off as he realized just how ridiculous that question was.

Scott shook his head. “It’s not like your claws, Logan. I can’t turn it on and off like that. If my eyes open… that’s it. Anyone in my line of sight is seriously screwed. I can’t take that kind of a risk. If something wakes me up at night, my instincts are just going to be to open my eyes. I’m not going to have enough cognizance to make sure that I put my visor on correctly before opening my eyes.”

“So, I guess that’s a no, then,” Logan said uncomfortably. He couldn’t imagine what it must be like to live like that. His claws were one thing, and the memory issue was something else, but he was still able to look people in the eyes. He wondered when the last time Scott was able to do that. Sure the visor was one thing, but there was something… off putting about not being able to see Scott’s eyes. He’d assumed that it was a pompous fashion choice or something, he didn’t think it was mandatory.

“Yeah, Logan,” Scott said, clearly irritated. “That’s a no. The only time they come off is when the professor has an upgrade for me.”

Logan took a swig of the drink and made a face. The scotch was truly awful, no wonder Scott just had it lying around. “Is it comfortable at least?”

Scott shrugged, taking a sip of his own. “You get used to it. Some models are more comfortable than others. It’s really not terrible though. It’s a necessary evil, I guess.” Scott changed gears and pointed to Logan. “What about you?”

“What about me?” Logan asked, he didn’t have to wear a visor to stop himself from hurting anyone.

“The claws. Do they hurt when they come out or are there little slits between your fingers or something for them to come out?” Scott asked.

Logan frowned. This was much less fun when the attention was on him. “Yeah, it hurts every time. I mean I guess I’m used to it, or as used to it as I can be, but it doesn’t tickle. It’s like knives cutting through sensitive skin, and with the healing factor--”

“It must hurt like the first time each time,” Scott cut him off, looking down at his cup. “That sounds pretty rough.”

Logan waved dismissively at him before taking another sip of his drink. “There are worse things. Besides I’ve been hurt worse… I guess I’ve got a high tolerance for pain.”

Scott nodded. “I guess that makes sense.”

“Do your eyes hurt, when you… do the laser thing?” Logan asked.

He frowned disapprovingly at him. “They’re not exactly lasers--”

“But you get the point,” Logan said, taking another sip. “Do they hurt or not?”

He shook his head. “They don’t hurt. Seeing in red all the time can give me a bit of a headache sometimes, though.”

Logan almost choked on his drink. “You see _everything_ in red?” He hadn’t imagined that part of it, but he supposed it made sense. The red beams came from his eyes and he couldn’t control them, so logically he’d only be able to see in red. 

“Yeah,” Scott said. “Mostly it’s different shades… sometimes yellow.”

“So you… see the world… differently than everyone else,” Logan said dumbly. It wasn’t really what he was _trying_ to say. He was _trying_ to say that he probably didn’t know what was supposed to be what color, or if it was a nice day out or just clouded. He meant to say that it must have been one hell of an adjustment… but he didn’t say any of that.

Scott snorted. “Don’t get philosophical on me, Logan. It’s really not that big of a deal.”

“When did it start?” He asked as Scott poured more scotch into his now empty glass.

Scott exhaled, thinking. “I was probably about fourteen--fifteen years old.”

“Did you hurt anyone?” Logan couldn’t stop himself from asking, despite how inappropriate that question was.

Scott shook his head. “No, I almost did. I was in a fight with some kid. Luckily, he was able to walk away with some minor injuries. I didn’t blast him directly… he got hit by something that was. Needless to say I wasn’t able to just show my face at school again. I’ve been here ever since.”

Logan watched him for a moment. Scott had been here since he was a teenager. No wonder he was so focused on being the perfect protege to the professor. He hadn’t been able to look another person in the eyes since he was fifteen. He’d want to be loyal to whoever gave him the ability to see without hurting anyone too if he were in his shoes. 

Something about all this made something click. Suddenly Scott made a lot more sense to Logan than he had before. He wasn’t just some arrogant prick for no reason. He was compensating for the fact that he’d been there away from most of the world since he was just a kid. Logan felt his stomach drop. The students. Would they be at the school for the rest of their days like Scott? Was that what this place was? A place to train kids to become new X-Men rather than have an opportunity to go out on their own. He shook the thought from his head. Logan was able to come and go as he pleased, there was no reason to think that Scott or the others didn’t have the same options.

“No witty remark?” Scott asked, shaking Logan out of his thoughts.

“Just didn’t realize you’ve been here that long is all.” Logan took a long gulp of his drink. 

“Yeah well, most of us were students here first,” Scott said nonchalantly. “Some left and came back, some of us just stayed.”

“How often do kids just… stay?” Logan asked before taking yet another sip.

Scott made a face and teetered his head indecisively. “It depends. Honestly the kids who have no place to go are typically the ones who stay. Don’t get me wrong, some of them still go out on their own and live good lives for it. Look at Hank McCoy. He’s gone places and he started here, had next to nothing when he left and got a proper education. Some choose to join the Brotherhood… they can find that message more appealing. It’s easy to be angry with it all sometimes. Those who don’t do any of the above stay.”

That made Logan feel a little bit better. It didn’t seem as though the kids were being manipulated into staying there. It seemed as though it was just a personal choice for Scott and the others.

They continued talking and drinking for a while. In fact, they went on for much longer than Logan was initially expecting. It was the first time he and Scott really talked… ever… without someone else being there as a buffer. As much as he hated to admit it, he found his dislike of the guy slowly melting away. He wasn’t all that bad after all. Sure, they probably wouldn’t be best friends anytime soon, but he could deal with this Scott. This Scott who wasn’t so preoccupied with being the perfect… everything all the time.

They kept drinking even longer, Logan wasn’t sure how long it even was at this point. It had gotten dark… When had that happened? He looked over at Scott who was talking about the new X-Jet.

“The take off is a lot smoother now, but honestly there’s still some turbulence once we get in the air,” Scott said, waving his arms around theatrically. The alcohol must have been getting to him at this point.

Logan chuckled to himself. He hadn’t really been able to feel the effects of alcohol since… ever. At most he could get buzzed briefly, his healing wouldn’t allow for anything else. He poured himself another drink and listened to Scott ramble on.

“I mean it’s an improvement for sure,” Scott said enthusiastically. “The engine is practically silent at take off and the cloaking agent is almost foolproof! There are just some minor bugs that have got to be figured out though.”

Logan watched Scott closely. He wasn’t really paying attention to what the other man was saying anymore. He just found himself becoming preoccupied with his mouth as he spoke. It was as if his lips were moving too fast and too slow at the same time. Without thinking, Logan lurched forward pressing his own lips to Scott.

Before Logan could even register what he was doing, he felt Scott leaning in and deepening the kiss. Logan’s brain finally caught up to him and he broke apart for the other man, standing up abruptly from the bench.

Scott looked at him bewildered. “Logan--”

Before Scott was able to say anything, Logan turned around and bolted out of the courtyard. 

That did not just happen. That could not have just happened. What the hell had come over him. Scott? Why the hell had he just kissed Scott Summers of all people? Why had Scott kissed him back? Scott hated him just as much as he hated Scott… right? Of course he did! If there was one thing that Logan knew it was that he was _not_ attracted to Scott, and that feeling was undoubtedly mutual.

Logan raced up the steps and headed towards his bedroom. The last thing he needed was to talk to anyone right now. Clearly he was out of his mind. There was no way that he would have kissed Scott Summers if he was in the right frame of mind. No way whatsoever.

When Logan got to his bedroom he locked the door behind him. It wasn’t as though he was expecting Scott, or anyone else, to follow him. He just needed to get some sleep and forget that the kiss ever happened. 

Logan wasn’t able to sleep a wink that night. All he could think about was Scott--no, not Scott--his lips on Scott. What had come over him? They were sitting, talking, drinking--drinking. Sure, Logan may not have been able to get wasted, but they were drinking _a lot_. It was definitely possible that he experienced a light buzz from all that scotch. That had to be it! There was no other explanation! He felt himself relax and he was able to lie down and finally get some sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Huge shout out to my beta [Anne](https://melsmalone.tumblr.com) this would not have been possible without her.


End file.
